What It's Like To Compete On Guy's Grocery Games, According To A Contestant

The set of Flavortown Market is a 15,500-square-foot, fully-functional grocery store located in a Santa Rosa, California industrial park. And unlike most grocery stores that take a year to build, set designers put this one together in just four weeks and still managed to make it an authentic grocery store that just about anyone would love to shop in.

The store features a broad mix of food items and a wide variety of products — everything a chef could ever dream of needing to make their dish — while the wider aisles accommodate multiple shoppers as well as the camera crew. Overall, there are more than 20,000 food items to choose from including 241 produce options, 67 types of meat, and 442 pounds of seafood — a reality that can be both exciting for chefs and overwhelming.

"It was the best grocery store [I've] been to," recalls Russell LaCasce. "There were a ton of high-end products [and] items you wouldn't typically see in a normal grocery store."

And though LaCasce says friends told him what to expect while competing on the show, he still says it was challenging to find things he and his partner needed — especially in the short amount of time they were given. "I wish I would have known where more items were in the store, so I didn't waste as much time running around scrambling to find things, but that's the name of the game," he says.

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Russell LaCasce, who is the executive chef at Hotel Valley Ho's ZuZu Restaurant and his pastry chef, Audrey Enriquez, appeared on the Sweet and Savory Duos episode of Season 16 of "Guy's Grocery Games" and were able to out-cook their competitors, which included the teams of Laura Lee and Aaron Clouse, plus Joe and Dara Rodger. The key to their success — which included challenges like making an all-American comfort dinner and dessert with a mandatory shopping list and preparing a steakhouse entree and dessert on a tight budget — was great teamwork, good cooking, and sticking to what they know.

Of course, everyone who competes on "Guy's Grocery Games" goes into it hoping to win, but at the end of the day there can only be one winner. That's why chefs like LaCasce say it's so important to stick to your wheelhouse and focus on preparing good food. Trying to make a dish you've never done before could be a recipe for disaster in more ways than one. In fact, LaCasce says it's best to relax and focus on your cooking.

"Don't try to overcomplicate it," he says. "Stick to the dishes and techniques you know and make sure to taste your food."

"Of course, that's sometimes easier said than done when you have a bunch of cameras circling you trying to get the best shot of you and your cooking," says LaCasce. "Honestly, I just tried to relax as best as I could, but it was hard. There are a lot of cameras and people, but once you get over that, all focus shifts to the cooking."

Anyone who has watched an episode or two of "Guy's Grocery Games" knows how chaotic the shopping and cooking appears to be on screen. In fact, you might see chefs running into each other accidentally with their carts or struggling to find just the right ingredients. Plus, once you add in the challenges, like only cooking from the frozen food aisle, you will see a lot of chefs stumped with what to do. According to chef Russell LaCasce the game and the atmosphere is every bit as challenging as you might expect it to be — and maybe more so.

"The cooking and timing are the real deal," he says. "It was very challenging to shop, create, cook, and finish within the 30-minute time frame."

Plus, you have the boatload of cameras on set you have to contend with too. Just trying to get past the idea that your every move is being captured by a camera can incite a case of nerves in even the most confident chefs. In fact, LaCasce says he didn't realize how many cameras and people would be on set and it all caught him off guard: "As a viewer of the show, you don't get shown that, so it was definitely something I noticed."

But he and his partner, Audrey Enriquez, were still able to get it done and come away with $16,000 to show for their efforts. Overall, LaCasce says he appreciates how big of an opportunity it was to be on television and get his brand out there.

One of the hallmarks of "Guy's Grocery Games" ( or Triple G) are the little twists and tricks Guy Fieri plays on the contestants. For instance, he might tell the chefs they're going to make a gourmet steak and potatoes dinner only to stop them just before they're about to shop and throw a wrench into things — like limiting their shopping to the frozen food aisle. He has also been known to camouflage his countdown to the start, or his customary "three, two, one ... go." This causes the chefs to miss the fact that they should be shopping and that the game — and their time — has already started.

As a fan of the show, you may watch an episode and think to yourself, "I would never fall for that," or you may think, "surely the chefs have to pick up on the fact that he just said the words 'three, two, one, and go,'" in what he just said. Interestingly, only a few chefs ever pick up on this trickery the first time around.

Not only are these mishaps entertaining, but one Triple G fan has compiled some of what he considers the best "three, two, one ... go" mishaps. And according to Russell LaCasce, Fieri's attempts to fool the contestants have a way of catching the chefs off guard. "I did fall for his trickery," he reveals. "I can't exactly remember what he said, but I do remember falling for one or two of his tricks."

Aside from the cooking and the challenges Guy Fieri hoists upon the contestants, perhaps one of the most entertaining aspects of the show are the sidebars with Fieri and the outtake interviews with the chefs. These interviews allow the viewer to get an inside look at what Fieri thinks about what the chefs are preparing, the ingredients they selected, and how it could impact them down the line when the judges are presented with the dish. These interviews also give the viewer an inside peek at the personalities of the chefs on the show, making them more real and allowing the viewer to resonate with what they're up against.

But, even though interviews appear to take place during the cooking or before the judging, Russell LaCasce says the outtakes are filmed after the bulk of the show has been filmed. He also said it's a fun process and that he really enjoyed being a part of it. And, if you watch their episode, you'll see that both LaCasce and Enriquez had fun with their interviews and joked about their working relationship in their first outtake, even though it's obvious they work well together.

"We're not friends," said LaCasce with a straight face and Audrey Enriquez said, "I don't even like him." Of course, they both laughed afterward because clearly based on their success on the show, and the way they interacted, the two have a very good working relationship. Later, in the episode, LaCasce even acknowledged the respect they have for one another.

"One thing I know about Audrey is that she always comes with her A-game and I can just focus solely on mine," said LaCasce.

Later, Enriquez said there's a lot of trust between the two of them and noted that LaCasce is an amazing chef. Obviously, it's that mutual understanding and respect that has served the duo well.

While you can get through an episode of Triple G in about 40 to 60 minutes depending on if you're watching a recorded version or a live version, the creation of that single episode of "Guy's Grocery Games" takes much longer. In fact, Russell LaCasce says he and Audrey Enriquez spent upward of 12 hours on the set: "It was a lot of waiting and then a quick hurry and go."

This means at the end of the day the show's chefs are typically exhausted, and rightly so. They have spent time in makeup and cooked at least two dishes. They've also participated in their outtake interviews, which could potentially take up to three hours, and done anything else the producers requested to make that particular episode a success.

But, they're not the only ones who spend time ensuring each episode's success or who operate under tight deadlines. There's also a store team that keeps Flavortown Market running and stocked long before contestants like LaCasce arrive. Not only does this team examine every aisle to determine what needs to be replaced or replenished, but they also ensure the produce, meat, and other perishable items are of the highest quality and freshness — and they do it all in just three hours. This attention to quality and detail shows and allows chefs like LaCasce to focus on putting out great food.

Chefs who appear on "Guy's Grocery Games" are likely to experience a wide range of emotions. From feeling imposter syndrome and seeing it as a dream come true to having a chance to showcase their talents and showing the world what they can expect at their restaurant or food cart, most chefs are honored to participate in Triple G. "Plus, it really is as fun as you might expect," says Russell LaCasce. In fact, he describes his experience on the show as a total blast from start to finish and he wouldn't change a thing.

"We won, so there isn't anything I would've done differently," says LaCasce. "I am proud [of the outcome], but I am [also] proud that I was able to get over my nerves and show the world what we can do."

He said his goal when he went on the show was to focus on the food and the cooking and to allow great things to happen. "Positive things happen past that. It's important to have that confidence."

The end result was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that he can talk about for years to come, especially after winning in such spectacular fashion. And, like all other chefs who participate on the show, he had a lot of fun doing it. And there might even be a little fame involved, too. Not only is it fun to have a watch party for your family and restaurant guests, but some chefs have even been recognized on the street after winning the show. This few minutes of fame has to be fun — and is often a much appreciated side effect of being on the show.